Weekend wrap: Mighty Mussels take series from Clearwater Threshers
Hernandez reaches 40 steals; Mussels secure series win over Threshers
FORT MYERS – The Fort Myers Mighty Mussels defeated the Clearwater Threshers by a final score of 9-4 Sunday afternoon at Lee Health Sports Complex.
Merphy Hernandez stole his 40th base of the season in the first inning of the game. He is the first Mussel-era (since 2020) player to accomplish this feat, and the fifth player in franchise history (since 1992) to reach 40 steals. The feat was most recently accomplished by Ben Revere (45) in 2009. Revere is second on the all-time list behind Anthony Felston who stole 86 bases in 1998. The other 40 steal seasons were recorded by Cleatus Davidson (44) also in 1998 and Matt Lawton III (42) in 1994, meaning Hernandez is just the second player to reach 40 steals this century.
“It’s a great personal accomplishment,” Hernandez said postgame through translator Carlos Lara. “But I am more grateful towards the team and to everyone that has given me the opportunity to be here.”
Hernandez accomplished the feat in less than half the games compared to the others on the list, only playing in his 49th game on Sunday (Felston, 114; Revere, 121; Davidson, 130; Lawton, 111).
“I’m really proud of the way this season has gone,” Hernandez said. “Because of the opportunity I’ve gotten, I am able to go out and perform on a daily basis.”
Fort Myers (62-50, 25-22) sent Callan Fang to make his fifth start and 13th appearance of the season. Fang allowed a run in the first inning on an RBI groundout from Clearwater’s (65-47, 25-21) Macon Winslow.
Zuher Yousef (3-3) started for the Threshers and allowed the first five Mussels to reach in the first inning. Hernandez scored on a balk, Colby Turner scored on a double steal, and Luis Fragoza scored on an RBI single from Isaiah Lane. Later in the frame, Lane scored on an RBI knock by Byrce Fowler. Fort Myers recorded three stolen bases and grabbed a 4-1 lead.
Clearwater responded with a run in the top of the third inning to make it 4-2.
In the bottom of the third inning, Fragoza ripped his 18th double of the season down the left field line to lead off the frame. Three batters later, Quentin Young tore into his 12th double of the year to drive in Fragoza and extend the lead to 5-2.
Fort Myers tacked on two more runs in the fourth inning to make the score 7-2. Hideki Prather recorded his first hit on a double and later came in to score. For the second time in the game, the first five Mussels reached base to begin an inning.
The Threshers cut into the deficit in the top of the fifth with two runs to make it 7-4. Both runs were charged to Fang, who threw a season-high 75 pitches today. Jake Covey (2-0) took over and faced two batters to get three outs, aided by a double play. Covey ended up completing four innings of scoreless ball.
The Mussels added on in the bottom of the seventh on a two-out, two-run single by Turner, who collected four RBI today.
Hendry Chivilli took over in the ninth and closed out Fort Myers’ second consecutive series win and first at home since late June. They remain six games behind Tampa for first place in the FSL West 2nd Half standings with 19 games to play.
The Mighty Mussels take to the road Tuesday, Aug, 18, to begin a six-game series against the Palm Beach Cardinals. The Mussels will provide audio-only coverage of the first five games. First pitch is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. with coverage beginning at 6:20 p.m. on the Mighty Mussels Baseball Network.
Eighth inning rally pushes Clearwater past Fort Myers, 8-2
FORT MYERS – The Fort Myers Mighty Mussels were defeated by the Clearwater Threshers by a final score of 8-2 Saturday night at Lee Health Sports Complex.
After an 86-minute weather delay, Fort Myers (61-50, 24-22) sent Ramiro Villanueva to the mound to make his team-leading 15th start of the season. Villanueva struck out the side in the first inning.
With two out in the bottom of the first, Luis Fragoza hit his 14th home run of the season at 104.3 mph off Clearwater (65-46, 25-20) opener Jacob Pruitt. Fragoza is now tied with Brandon Winokur (2024) for the second most home runs in a single-season in the Mussels’ era (since 2020).
The Threshers tied the game in the third inning on an RBI hit from Double-A rehabber Dante Nori. Villanueva allowed three hits in the inning but induced a flyout from Caden Bogenpohl with the bases loaded to evade further damage.
Matthew Dalquist entered the game in the fourth. Dalquist stranded the bases loaded in the fourth and two additional runners in scoring position in the fifth to keep the game tied. He worked three scoreless innings in total.
Charlie Scholvin worked a two-out walk in the bottom of the fifth, snapping a streak of 12 batters in a row retired by Thresher pitching.
In the top of the sixth inning, on a flyball out to left fielder Bryce Fowler, Clearwater’s runner at first, Nolan Beltran, tried tagging up from first to second. Fowler darted a one-hop throw to Bryan Acuna, who applied the tag for the out.
Fragoza recorded the second Mussel hit of the game in the bottom of the sixth inning, then stole the team’s 250th base of the season. Fort Myers broke the single-season franchise record on Thursday, which was 236 stolen bases by the 2025 team.
Nick McAuliffe (2-2) took over in the seventh inning. Following a leadoff double, McAuliffe struck out the side to keep the game tied at one.
In the bottom of the seventh inning, the Mussels got runners at first and third with no one out on a double from Fowler and a walk from Acuna. Clearwater turned to reliever Brian Walters (7-2) , who recorded a strikeout and induced a ground ball double play to escape the jam.
In the top of the eighth, McAuliffe and Michael Hilker Jr. allowed seven combined runs as Clearwater went up 8-1. It is the second consecutive night that the Threshers put up seven runs in an inning.
Fort Myers got one run back in the bottom of the inning against Walters on a bases loaded walk from Fowler.
Melvin Rodriguez took over in the ninth and struck out two men in a 1-2-3 frame.
The Mussels went in order in the ninth, and dropped their second game in a row. They are now six games behind Tampa for first place in the FSL West 2nd Half standings.
Mussels’ steal nine bases In loss, winning streak snapped at five
FORT MYERS – The Fort Myers Mighty Mussels were defeated by the Clearwater Threshers 12-10 Friday night at Lee Health Sports Complex.
The Mighty Mussels stole nine bases in the game one off of the franchise record of 10, set on June 25, 2025, in Tampa. Fort Myers leads the Florida State League with 249 steals, 10 better than the second-highest mark.
Merphy Hernandez swiped four bases, becoming the eighth player in franchise history to steal that many in a single game. He reached the feat for the second time this year after having four steals on May 28 (G2) vs. Jupiter. Hernandez has 39 steals on the season, trailing only Jupiter’s Andres Valor (50) for first in the FSL.
Fort Myers (61-49, 24-21) sent Cristian Hernandez to the mound to make his Hammond Stadium debut. Clearwater (63-46, 24-20) struck first with a run in the top of the first inning.
Hernandez allowed two more runs in the second before exiting the game. Brent Francisco (8-3) replaced him and stranded two, but the Threshers took a 3-0 lead.
Fort Myers fought back to tie the game in the bottom of the second inning. Hernandez reached on an infield single, Charlie Scholvin walked and Hideki Prather was hit by a pitch to load up the bases with one out. Yovanny Duran drove in Hernandez with a sacrifice fly to put the Mussels on the board.
The next batter was Vahn Lackey, who narrowly missed his first professional home run on a rocket to straight-away center field. The ball hit off the wall, just to the right of the 405-foot marker, and scored two runs, as Lackey dove in with his second triple of the season. The ball left the bat at 107.6 mph, his hardest hit as a professional.
After Clearwater retook the lead in the top of the third, the Mussels tied the game in the bottom of the inning. Luis Fragoza drew his second walk of the night, then scored on an RBI triple from Isaiah Lane, already his third of his professional career.
The Threshers scored one in the top of the fourth, but the big damage came an inning later. Francisco and Brad Rudis gave up a combined seven runs in the fifth as Clearwater took a 12-4 advantage.
During that inning, Phillies second rounder Caden Bogenpohl hit a three-run home run at 117.1 mph, the hardest hit ball in the Statcast era (since 2015) for the Clearwater Threshers and the second-hardest vs. Fort Myers (Tony Blanco Jr., 2021). It is the fifth hardest hit ball in affiliated baseball, the third hardest hit ball in MiLB in 2026 and the fourth-hardest hit ball in the FSL’s Statcast era.
Bogenpohl later had a 116.6 mph single. He has the second- and third-hardest hit balls in the FSL this season (Randy Guzman, 117.6 mph).
The Mussels grabbed two runs back in the bottom of the sixth. Run-scoring singles from Colby Turner and Hernandez cut into the deficit, making the score 12-6.
Adam Falinski took over in the top of the seventh and held Clearwater off the board over the final three innings.
The Mussels continued to claw back in the seventh. Lane, Hernandez, and Scholvin all recorded hits to lead off the inning. Prather drove in his first professional run and Duran added an RBI to make it 12-9.
Hernandez drove in a run against Manuel Colon (1-0) in the eighth to cut the deficit to two, but Fort Myers left the bases loaded.
In the ninth inning, despite a lead off single from Duran, the Mussels could not complete the comeback against Luis Avila (S2) and saw their five-game winning streak snapped.
The contest took 3 hours and 26 minutes to complete, marking the longest home game of the season. Including a 66-minute weather delay, the game took 4 hours and 32 minutes to complete, wrapping at 11:37 p.m. for the third latest finish all season.